Heavy Duty Trucking, March 2018

because we have to assemble parts But we want to be able to handle just about any type of body repair and those materials give us that capability Another example of advanced materials in use is Wabash Composites Duraplate composite sidewall panels which Svaasand says can be used on both dry vans and tractor bodies The plates are constructed of a highdensity polyethylene HDPE core bonded between two high strength steel skins for damage resistance Penske technicians have found these plates to be quick and efficient to use in repairs to the point he feels it is more cost effective to replace a whole Duraplate panel rather than cutting sections out to fill in damaged areas Ross says minimizing the amount of time a truck spends in the body shop is a priority for PPG as well It has developed a line of commercial grade products that allows technicians to take care of minor touchup work without committing a vehicle to a paint booth Any touch up paint work that can be done at a fleet maintenance facility instead of in a paint booth is welcomed because it saves time labor and money Ross says And our rollable and aerosol products are often used for touch up or wheel refurbishment as well Paint and body material suppliers are going the extra mile to help fleets deal with minor body and paint issues in a timely and affordable manner says William Lemons technical service manager commercial vehicles AkzoNobel Weve been making some inroads with a new product for quick spot repairs that uses ultraviolet light to cure paints he notes The product is available now for the passenger car market and were looking closely at adapting it for commercial vehicles Lemons says a handheld UV light allows technicians to identify and touch up hardto spot minor paint damage at a shop before corrosion sets in Its always important to take care of minor paint and body issues before they turn into major ones he adds The more you do to prevent moisture and corrosion from making contact with metal the longer you can keep a vehicle while protecting its resale value Penskes Svaasand also praises PPGs Delfleet paint refinishing system and products which takes much of the guesswork out of a notoriously difficult task accurately matching paint colors on repair jobs Paint colors are often the stumbling block in achieving that goal But PPGs system enables our technicians to match the paint using a computer program and then take into account factors like UV radiation and natural fading and discoloration SLEEK FLEETS He says 3Ms new line of commercial vehicle repair materials has given his shops real advantages in terms of turnaround times and the overall fit and finish of the repair jobs Depending on the severity of the damage we can often run minor bump and bruise repairs around in a day he says Larger jobs like rollovers obviously take more time Make sure you have the right ELD Thinking of solving the ELD mandate with a cell phone app or Bring Your Own Device solution Get ready for trouble Phone battery overheating from constant GPS activity Phone or BYOD device dropped and damaged in an inspection hand off Drops in the Bluetooth connection resulting in log gaps and nes App records your off duty travel as though you were still driving your truck Avoid the aggravation Get VDO RoadLog its a dedicated device thats hardwired to your vehicle Get 100 FMCSA ELD mandate compliance and 24 7 US based phone support RoadLog is FMCSA registered and comes with VDO RoadLog Of ce the online compliance reporting and fleet management tool Talk to a VDO RoadLog ELD Specialist 855 ROADLOG 855 762 3564 roadlog sales@ vdo com www vdoroadlog com Available with No Monthly Fees VDO and RoadLog Trademarks of the Continental Corporation HDT MARCH 2018 74 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM CO5088 HeavyDutyTrucking_ RoadLog_ MakeSureYoutHaveTheRightELD_ Aggressive_ HalfIsl_ 2 18_ v2 indd 1 2 15 18 9 47 AM

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